Page 2411 - Week 09 - Tuesday, 6 August 1991
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Mr Speaker, I think this statement is an indication of what this Territory is in for with the coming budget. Frankly, as I said, it is very long on words but very short on figures. It is quite remarkable to be taking funds out of the capital works program but at the same time bemoaning the fact that we have a very high youth unemployment rate. For goodness sake, if you cut out the capital works, how are these kids going to get work as labourers, apprentice bricklayers, plumbers, electricians, et cetera?
Mr Connolly: The Opposition should talk to "Jed" Clampett. He is the bloke to fix their problems.
MR DUBY: No, I am not a Clampett; but I do know that the procedures that we had in place would have addressed this issue. So, what do we have? On the second last page the statement says that unemployment amongst youth is now 27.5 per cent. Shock! Horror! The Chief Minister says, "I do not know what to do. Please send your suggestions, and do not forget to put the stamp on the envelope". That is basically what it says. I think it is a very, very half-hearted attempt at facing the realities of life in the Territory. I frankly shudder at what we can expect when this Government brings down its full budget, because I know that it will be one that, when sensible economic management is again restored to the Territory, will take many, many years to overcome.
MR HUMPHRIES (4.00): Mr Speaker, I want to contribute to this debate because, by the sound of what Ms Follett said before, this may be the only chance I get to contribute to the budget strategy. I recall, Mr Speaker, a review of a book I once read which simply had three words. It said, "This slim volume". It seems to me, Mr Speaker, that that is an excellent review of the budget strategy statement that Ms Follett issued last month. It is a slim volume indeed. The substance is even shorter. The document is disappointingly vague. My colleagues in the Liberal Party and elsewhere have already, I think, fairly clearly articulated the shortcomings of the document.
I am as distressed by the lack of information as I am by some of the unclear and vague statements that are made in the document. There is one on page 8 that took my fancy, and I quote that one sentence. It says:
The Government will be considering future creative approaches to Canberra's urban form -
whatever that is -
not only to assist our budgetary position by using existing infrastructure better but also to improve environmental impacts through reduced dependence on private transport ...
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